Chong Eun Ahn

Assistant Professor of History

Chong Eun Ahn is a historian of modern East Asia. She grew up in Seoul, South Korea. Majoring in British and American studies at Sogang University, she also gained familiarity with Asian and European history more broadly. She was also engaged in critical study groups focusing on issues ranging from colonial legacies to the geopolitics of East Asia. This engagement drove her to pursue graduate studies in the United States. She first obtained an M.A. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, with a focus on ethnicity and nationalism in modern East Asia. She received Ph.D. in History at University of Washington. Her Ph.D. dissertation, “From Chaoxian ren to Chaoxian zu: Korean Identity under Japanese Empire and Chinese Nation State,” examines the identity formation of ethnic Koreans who were treated as colonial subjects in the Japanese empire and then categorized as ethnic minorities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Her academic interests include East Asian history and culture, and issues surrounding colonialism, modernity, ethnicity, labor migrations, and empires.